Comestibles such as cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese dips and the like are typically packaged in cup-like containers having closures or lids made of relatively resilient materials. Closures or lids for such container cups are depressed inwardly relative to the top of the lip and are relatively flexible in construction to provide for ease of handling by the consumer. Such lids, however, when handled during inspection present difficulties if the lid is easily capable of being opened and closed without providing proof of unauthorized entry.
Typically, a customer may on occasion remove the lid in order to examine the contents or the comestible therein. If the customer is satisfied and purchases the comestible then there is no problem since there has been no unauthorized tampering and the customer would be expected to utilize the comestible at the customer's convenience. However, in the event that the customer is not interested in purchasing the comestible, the lid may be returned and the package replaced upon the shelf. In such instance, spoilage can occur while the comestible is sitting on the shelf awaiting future purchase.
In addition, if a person introduces foreign objects or possibly toxic contaminants it is highly desirable to provide to a future customer evidence of tampering. If the lid can be easily removed, the toxic substance introduced and lid thereupon repositioned atop the container without any indication that tampering has occurred, the customer is unaware of any tampering. In order to avoid this problem, it has been suggested that the entire package be enveloped in a plastic wrap which could not be removed without providing a sure proof indication of entry and possible unauthorized for entry tampering.
Although such improvement is available with the plastic wrap, it is also desirable to provide tamper-evident proof without the need to resort to the use of a plastic wrap. For this reason, various suggestions have been put forth to provide for tamper-evident rings around the periphery of the lid. Such rings require that before use the customer completely remove the ring before the lid can be withdrawn from the container mouth.
However, even with typical ring type lids such ring lid structures can still be pried off from the container mouth without any breakage of the ring. There would therefore be no evidence of tampering upon the repositioning of the ring and lid structure onto the container. Moreover, such ring-type structures in many instances are complicated and this also increases the cost and expense of manufacture and assembly which lessen the desirability of such ring-type structures.
We have invented a lid which avoids the aforementioned problems and provides proof of any unauthorized tampering while maintaining the contents in a sealed condition.